A 19 Year Old Heading Children and Family Services?

TerriBull

Bernadette Devlin, anyone remember her? she was very young when she became an MP.

Yes! She was 21 when she was elected.

I can't believe she's 78 😯

Allira

Rosie51

Mhairi Black was only 20 when she was elected as an MP, and she was celebrated for her youth and vitality as I recall.
Age isn’t the issue here.

Well, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Samuel Carling was a City Councillor in Cambridge at the age of 19 or 20. During his tenure, Carling held the office of Executive Councillor for Open Spaces and City Services,[22] and was a member of the Skills Committee of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for two years. He then ran for Parliament and became an MP at the age of 22, holding both jobs until recently.
Was he also completing his degree at the same time?

But he's Labour, so is that ok?

According to The Guardian last year In a parliament full of fresh faces, none are more energised than the members of generation Z who are taking up their seats this week.

So that's all right, then.

No, it's not alright, but (according to Google), Carling did write an essay called "Could carbon quantum dots have applications in bioimaging?" This was the City of Cambridge, after all!

I seem to recall Jeremy Corbyn appointed a teenage transwoman councillor as an advisor for matters pertaining to women. That didn't go down very well at the time.

Well, I think they could most definitely. They could be the future in many areas of science.

Allira Cambridge City Council is a district council, so is nowhere near so important as a county council. Being in charge of Cambridge's parks and opens paces doesn't compare with being in charge of education and children's social care for a whole county. The budgets don't compare either.

Allira

Well, I think they could most definitely. They could be the future in many areas of science.

Sam Carling has a first from Cambridge and I'm sure he has a bright future (even if he is Labour).

I am more stunned that a 19yr old belongs to the Reform party🙄 , how long will these council services last before they fall into a spiralling pit of dept.

It’s not a laughing matter. These are serious roles. The portfolio holders need to master major regulatory frameworks and understand complex budgets. It isn’t a game. A pity that Reform couldn’t recruit more experienced candidates.

winterwhite

It’s not a laughing matter. These are serious roles. The portfolio holders need to master major regulatory frameworks and understand complex budgets. It isn’t a game. A pity that Reform couldn’t recruit more experienced candidates.

Agreed. These are people's lives that a 19 year old is playing with. It seems that having not long been a child gives him the experience.
I just hope he is up to the job but have serious reservations.

I agree winterwhite. Surely anyone taking on such responsibilities should have experience of life, which a nineteen year old can’t possibly have. They need to know about finances, dealing with a range of people and making wise decisions etc.

Rosie51

growstuff

Rosie51

Mhairi Black was only 20 when she was elected as an MP, and she was celebrated for her youth and vitality as I recall.
Age isn’t the issue here.

But she wasn't given any real responsibility.

I’d suggest her constituents would hope she’d be responsible for promoting their interests. Is any MP not in a position of responsibility, surely that’s what they’re paid for.

From what I have seen or read she wasn't a very good constituency MP.

Even if he's someone who can assimilate information quickly, he's still at University so this can only be a part-time job.

As someone said upthread, the 'proof of the pudding', and that goes for all of the Reform politicians. Incredible drop out rate at the moment. Vacancies being scooped up in the subsequent by-elections by the established parties.
This young man hasn't given up yet.
We will know in time for the next GE, if Reform can live up to its promises.

Allira

Even if he's someone who can assimilate information quickly, he's still at University so this can only be a part-time job.

If you mean Sam Carling, he finished his course last year.

I meant Charlie Pugsley.

I agree with the doubters, here. Real life experiences are important in roles such as this, and teenagers simply haven't lived long enough.
We don't have teenage social workers, health visitors, or paramedics ( with the odd exception of some in training ) for a reason.

As we have seen, and continue to see, Reform's vetting procedures do not seem particularly robust.

They’ll take anyone they can get imo.

Well, councillors are not practitioners of course. Their role is to set the political direction of the council, and apportion funds to different services. For any councillor to take on a major portfolio two months after being elected is a tall order. For a young person wholly inexperienced in management and with no knowledge of how local governments is run it’s absurd all round. I hope Farage is supplying plenty of training to all his people.

Allira

I meant Charlie Pugsley.

Ah! Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Adult social care and children’s services account for approximately 75 per cent of Leicestershire County Council’s £616 million budget.

A lot of the money they spend will be on statutory services and there is no alternative. However, there will still be some discretionary spending and the councillors make the decisions.

Children's services includes SEND and child safeguarding, which are important issues. I honestly feel that the person making the decisions needs to have more experience than a 19 year old without any work experience could possibly have.

I have no problems with a 19 year old being on a council and having a voice. In fact, I welcome it, but I have serious reservations about anybody so young having so much responsibility.

This sounds eerily familiar.

Sincerely,

The United States

Well. let us see how he does, along with the one running a local council. They could surprise us. It really depends on whose pulling their strings.

M0nica

Well. let us see how he does, along with the one running a local council. They could surprise us. It really depends on whose pulling their strings.

That's what concerns me! The 19 year old is ultimately responsible for SEND. Nigel Farage has claimed that doctors are “massively over-diagnosing” children with mental health conditions, and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This contradicts the evidence I have from parents I know who are trying to get SEND funding for their children.

The 19 year old attended a selective independent school, so I doubt if he has has much experience of pupils with SEND or has spoken to many parents with SEND children. I wonder what kind of understanding he has of the issues.

He will also have core responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children within Leicestershire. That's not a role for somebody with little experience of life.